Gravity fuel-feeding device.



H. GLOUSTON.

GRAVITY FUEL FEEDING'DEVIOE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1911'.

1,022,772. Patented Apr.9, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

MN \i .5 I

II a COLUMBIA PMNOGIAPH CO" WASHINGTON. D, C.

H. GLO'USTON.

GRAVITY EUEL FEEDING DEVICE.

A PPLIOATION FILED MAY 29, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lnvenToP By his orrowney [haw 64W} PatentedvApr. 9, 1912.

HERBERT CLOUSTON, or ormmi, NORTH DAKOTA.

GRAVITY FUEL-FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Application filed May 29, 1911.

Patented Apr. 9,

Serial No. 630,125.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT CLoUsToN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Mohall, in the county of Ward and State of North Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gravity Fuel- Feeding Devices; and I do herebydeclare the following'to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it 7 apperta-ins to makeand use the same.

gravity-feed device or stoker adapted for use toautomatically feed cut straw, sawdust, cut corn cobs and similar finely divided fuel to stoves and furnaces.

To the above ends, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views. 7

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a View in elevation with some parts broken- The numeral 1 indicates the wall of a building and the numeral 2 indicates a heating stove having a suitable fire pot 3, equipped with a suitable grate at.

The fuel which is to be fed into the fire pot of the stove is placed within a supply hopper 5, preferably constructed of sheet metal and having an inclined bottom 6, that extends from one side nearly to the other of the said hopper and connects with the upper extremity of a feed spout 7, which latter leads downward from the lowermost portion of the hopper and is connected to the fire box of the stove through on opening 8 in one side of the stove. Preferably, the supply hopper 5 will be located outside of the building so that it may be filled without entering the room in which the stove is installed, hence, this feed spout 7 is passed obliquely through the wall 1, substantially as shown in Fig. l.

The hopper 5 is divided into a multiplicity of vertical compartments a, b, 0 and d,

by means of partitions f f and P, the upper ends of which are preferably terminated at the top of the hopper and the lower ends of which are, in the order named, cut off at points higher and higher so that they are spaced approximately the same distance from the inclined hopper bottom 6. Preferably, also, the hopper 5 is provided with a detachable cover 9.

The numeral 10 indicates a damper which controls a draft passage located on the side of the stove just below the point of delivery of the spout 7 into the fire pot.

The numeral 11 indicates a pin, or similar device, which may be inserted transversely through the lower portion of the feed spout 7 to hold back the straw or similar fuel when it is not desired that the same should stove before any, or much, of the fuel from any of the other compartments willbe delivered into the feed spout 7. The compartment b is not as much off-set from the spout 7 as the compartments 0 and d, and hence, after the compartment a has been nearly or quite emptied of fuel, the fuel from the compartment 5 will be fed to the spout 7, and thence, to the stove. Under this arrangement, the one compartment after the other will be emptied of, fuel and the compartment which is most remote laterally from the feed spout, or'point of discharge from the hopper will be the last to be emptied of fuel. By dividing the hop per into a multiplicity of compartments, and allowing one to empty at a time,.the fuel is evenly fed onto the grate. It has been demonstrated, in actual usage, that by removing the partitionsfrom the hopper, the fuel, particularly straw on account of its lightness, will pack at the receiving end of the spout 7. Fuel may beinserted into any of the emptied compartments at any time without interrupting the feeding action.

I have found, in practice, that when sawdust for instance, is to be burned, that a supply of air should be delivered into the fire box directly below the point of delivery of the fuel into the fire boX. Hence, when sawdust is burned, the draft port or passage 10 should be opened. On the other hand, when straw is to be burned, the port 10 should be closed and the draft should be directly upward through the bottom and central portion of the grate. Of course, a finer grate should be used for sawdust than for straw.

vVhat I claim is:

1. A fuel feeding device comprising a hopper having an inclined bottom, a feed spout leading downward from the lower portion of the inclined bottom, said hopper having a plurality of substantially vertically disposed partitions, spaced apart to form a series of fuel compartments off set laterally at different distances from the said feed spout, the said partitions terminating short of the inclined bottom to form an inclined chute leading to the feed spout.

2. A fuel feeding device comprising a hopper having an inclined bottom, a feed spout leading downward from the lower portion of the inclined bottom, said hopper having a plurality of substantially vertically disposed partitions, spaced apart to form a series of laterally off set fuel compartments, one of said compartments being located directly over said feed spout and the others thereof bein located at diflerent distances from the said feed spout, the said partitions terminating short of the inclined bottom to form an inclined chute leading to the feed spout.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HERBERT OLOUSTON.

Vitnesses:

BERNICE Gr. IVHEELER, HARRY D. KILGORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

